Oh yes! Please pardon me for being that scatterbrained! I own an old medicine-tome that my granny once gave me. My grandmother’s book has a brew in it that says its good for this kind of thing. A weird concoction
that sounds more like hoojoo than real medicine.

It contains some rare roots and concentrations, most of which I have here, but there’s three I don’t. Elderwood moss, which I’ve never heard of, but granny says the stuff only grows on the oldest tree in a forest.

A specially pickled root called rat’s tail, again, again sounds like hoojoo to me.

And seven ironbloom mushrooms, stunty little things that only grow in dark places thick with metal, a favorite among dwarves, or so I hear.

Thorid can't hold back a wide grin.
Oh yes, I'm plenty familiar with Ironbloom mushrooms. Acquiring 'em may be easier than keepin' 'em outta my mouth, though! He says with a chuckle and pats his belly. Then he looks up at the group, the smile gone from his face.

Heh! I understand tha gravity of our situation, an' I assure ye 'twas merely a bad joke. Hoojoo or not, if it's our best shot we best get movin'. Any sketches of what we're lookin' fer or advice as ta where we start lookin'?

"Likewise, any horse I could afford would unfortunately not be used to the type of encounters we are likely to experience in the wild. The last thing we need is our mounts tumbling us out of the saddle when something is after us. Besides, if we are headed into rough country, horses might slow us down as much as help us." she points her chin at Ki, not yet knowing his name, "I hope you have something a bit more nimble for your mount, or it's likely to get caught up in brush, or left at the bottom of any steep climb."

"Lets ask about in town as to where the most likely places would be to find an obscure root, an ancient forest, and a dwarven mine. Perhaps the tavern would be a good place to start."

Kestrel steps out of the herbalist's shop and sets off towards the tavern.

"We'll need something to call each other for this trip; how are each of you known?"

Ki Anom is my name; Ki to friends and traveling companions. And this... he whistles loudly between two fingers and a grey wolf, pulls its loosely tied reins from a post and trots over. is Ears. He is indeed a bit more nimble than a horse. And your name my lady?

Well then Kestrel, let us become companions in this journey. Turning to what's left of the crowd he asks Who is with us? Will you wait in line for relief of a symptom, or will you quest with us for the cure?

The apothecary suddenly replies to your speculations about the whereabouts of the ingredients Well, for the elderwood mold, there’s gotta be an oldest tree in the vale. Damned if I know where it is, though.
“The rat’s tail and mushrooms are even longer shots. Way north, toward the mountains, people say there used to live a bunch of dwarves. They’re not there anymore, but I’d bet their forges are. If you can find ironbloom anywhere around here, that’d be your best bet.
“As for the rat’s tail, who knows? Well. Actually. Ulizmila, the witch that lives deep in the woods might. She’s a crafty, mean thing that knows all sorts of strangeness. She might even have one. I don’t know what she might want for it, but I doubt it’d come cheap. My grandmother traded her sight to the old crone for a few pages of what she knew, and that was years and years back, and I don’t know a soul who got any nicer as they
got older.

K-geography DC 16 or local DC 20:

You know the approximate location of Ulizmila´s hut. It is just a few hours of travel north from from a sidearm of the River Foam, right in the Darkmoon Forest.

K-geography DC 20 or nature 24:

The Eldertree! Of course! You know, that it lies right in the middle of the Darkmoon Forest, about one day of travel by foot, less so by horse.

K-geography DC 16 or local DC 20, Thorid gets +2 bonus and can make the check untrained:

North of the Darkmoon Forest lies an old dwarven monastery. There should be enough Ironbloom Mushrooms to cover what you need.

If you know all locations, I´ll tell you the shortest route to all three in relation to each other.

I know the location of the old dwarven monastery! Thanks be to Erastil that it is not that far away. I guess, it will be little more than a day to travel, just north of the woods. My brother and me got a bit lost on our journey here and found that monastery by chance. Lucky, eh?

Unfamiliar with the specifics of this area but hailing from the mountains to the North, Thorid strokes his beard and considers anything his uncle may have said about Dwarven settlements in the area.

Knowledge check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind.

Hmmm... Not sure 'bout any Dwarf settlements so far South but if Mr Bollon can lead the way that's one thing off our list. 'Less one of ye know better, I say we ask 'round town fer some pointers. As I said, I need ta make arrangements for my uncle an' grab gear so we have a li'l bit 'fore we go searchin'

Know: Geography:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22w00t! Do I have to make separate checks for every location?EDIT: following Bollon's exampleKnow: Geography:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24Know: Geography:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8"That's very fortunate Bollon! I have not been to the Dwarven monastery, but in my travels around the Darkmoon Forest I've heard about the other two locations. The Eldertree is somewhat of a local landmark, about a day's trip from here. And the lumberjacks were so scared of this Ulizmila that everyone seemed to know the exact location they should avoid. It's just several hours north of here."

The shadowy halfling explains. I do not hale from this area and do not know them. It is indeed fortunate that between us we have an idea of where to look. At the discussion of the witch he darkens even further. Any creature who takes the sight of another, willing or no, is not to be dealt with lightly. I will reserve judgement based on what I learn, but we might be doing this land a great deed to end her.

By combining their knowledge, the five volunteers are able to piece the shortest route connecting Falcon´s Hollow to the three places where the ingredients are.

The journey will be about 35 miles length. Considering the landscape, it would be a three-day-trip for a wandering human. In the middle of the route lies a river that ends in a small lake. The journey could be about 5 miles shorter, if one had a way of crossing that river, like a boat.

If you want to go that shortest route, the order of locations would be tree - witch - monastery.

Three day trip by human legs an' a few of us are stockier folk. Best prepare fer a week an' see if we can find ways ta make up time 'long tha way. Catch or hire a ride 'long some roads if we can, le's have a look at a map an' see.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers so I haven't dug up a map. Is there one that we can peek at that isn't going to give anything away?

I have rations for five days. Will that be enough? We will also need a bit of time making the way back again. I can get myself a horse, but I guess that won´t help much since we don´t have enough mounts for everyone, right?

I'll grab my gear. Should still have a week a rations an' such. Seems we can cut a few miles off the start of our trip by catching a ride up the road to the edge a tha woods. Maybe ask around an' I'll be back in a jiffy. Thorid claps his hands loudly, nods to the group and heads off to collect his gear and to make arrangements for his uncle to receive basic care while the team is out gathering materials.

As most people of Falcon´s Hollow somehow work for or with the Lumber Consortium, there is a steady flow of lumber-carts into and out of town. The current lumber camp lies just along your way, so maybe you can make your journey for the first hours a bit more comfortable if you invest a copper or two.

Gounar is readyKnow: local (untrained):1d20 ⇒ 15"There is a steady flow of lumber carts going out in the direction of Darkmoon forest. If we give some coin to the lumberjacks we could hitch a ride.
There is also a river crossing our path. If we can somehow get a boat our journey will be shorter, but I don't know how where we could find one. Perhaps we will end up spending more time searching for it than on taking the longer path."

Thorid nods to the man greeting them as he walks past to see what the man under the cart is repairing.

Let's see whatcha got here. Ah, yep... okay I see whatcher wraslin' with. He takes his backpack off and sets it near one of the lumber cart wheels, rubs his hands in the dirt. He claps loudly, dust billowing from his hands and begins to mumble a prayer to Torag. He then reaches out and touches the area of the cart being repaired.

Once we get going, Thorid chats with the lumber workers about their jobs, the tools they use, what happens to the lumber after the trees are felled, common products made from darkwood, etc. He's genuinely interested and offers comparisons to mining and blacksmith trades.

Ki rides beside the lead wagon when the road is wide enough and offers to take point when it narrows so that he can not ride beside. He makes small talk with the driver as they travel talking mostly about how to handle a team of horses, and the pleasure of a good meal.

Gounar listens to the Thorid's conversation with great interest, but his interest seems to lie not in the subject, but in the dwarf himself.
"Highly unusual to see a dwarf so interested in trees. I thought your kind loves the stone much more. No offense."

Hahaha! 'Course we're better known fer our stone an' metal works, it's part a who we are. We do occasionally work with wood as highlight an' accent pieces or temporary support structures an' such.

An' there're times when wood's a more suitable material than metal or stone. Thorid slaps his hand on the side of the wagon they're riding in. This one ain't much ta look at but seems ta get the job done. Were it by my hands it'd be a bit prettier, maybe more solid... but it serves it's purpose, yeah? He nods to the lumber workers.

What's interestin' ta me is seein' how various workers, those who care, treat their work as a craft. They celebrate 'an respect their tools, take pride in the quality a their work an' encourage their teams. That's commendable work. Again nodding at the workers.

'Course there's also tha type a worker who cares little fer his trade an' carries on only ta gather coin enough fer tha headfog of substandard drink an' the occasional whore. His brow furls and his mouth turns down as he speaks. If that's the case, there is no point. That person has bottled his soul an tucked it away, maybe even sold it fer a night a pleasure. He spits off the side of the wagon. High price ta pay if ya ask me.

Realizing he may have dampened the mood he looks up and smiles. An' thus ends my surmon. May Torag guide yer hand in the pursuit of quality workmanship. He pats his belly... Let's talk 'bout lunch!

Ki pipes up from well in the front. Did someone say it was time for a lunch break? He rides back the line with a hopeful expression. I have not had a thing to eat since breakfast. he confesses. We Halflings need to eat 5 or 6 times a day to sustain ourselves. Ma always said so.

"The dark doesn't bother me either, but some things come out to hunt once the sun disappears. We should keep such things in mind, particularly as we get into areas that are less frequently visited by civilized creatures. Just saying."